Multimodality has been a growing research interest in the field of applied linguistics. With the actor-network theory as an analytic framework, the purpose of the present study was to explore how university students of Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) take advantage of both material and non-material semiotic resources while being…

Instructional images are used widely in textbooks and other learning materials, but the role of learner interpretation has not been adequately explored. While previous research has demonstrated the diversity of interpretation derived from images by learners, this research has not consistently taken place in the context of authentic learning tasks.…

In this article, we describe a programme of qualitative research and interpretive analysis around an approach to foreign language pedagogy that aimed to develop learners' symbolic competence through experience with and examination of the signs in acts of communication. Learners were presented with the problem of visually representing the abstract…

In this paper we explore the relationship between language acquisition, and the construction of a symbolic world. According to Bowers (1989) language is a collection of patterns regulating social life. This conception is close to that of Symbolic Interactionists (Charon, 1989) who see society as made up of interacting individuals who are symbol…